Is anyone else still running original bushings and pillow balls......
 

.......with absolutely no clunks or creaks? My chassis has 112,000 miles on it and I've owned it since 27,000 miles. Back in 2000-2001 I probably made 200 passes at the drag strip, and I've roadraced maybe 10 times or so. It's a street car, and certainly isn't babied, hell, I daily drove it my first 3 years in the Army. Anyone else experiencing the same thing? I'm not complaining, but I have a set of pillow balls waiting for install and I can't bring myself to mess with installing them right now. I wonder if it's a case of 'not knowing what I'm missing' by having fresh components.

me too rich...mine is sound but only 60k

All original at 37k and it has a few clunks and such. It did have a few early snow experiences -salt is bad- not good in the powder - which could acount for the few bushings starting to need attention. Not bad but not fully tight.

mine has 97k and they are all shot.

how much do stock replacement bushings cost?

My car is at 73k, suspension still seems tight, but I recently have noticed a slight clunk in the rear, and when I took it apart and inspected them my pillowballs are sloppy as hell. Bushings seem ok, but planning on replacing to somehting stiffer anyway.

53k...no problems.

90,ooo and no noise! but new parts are waiting.

I know this get asked a lot but where can I get new pillowballs??

65k and mine cluncks, drives me crazy!!

how much do new stock bushings cost?

Ray Crowe, Malloy Mazda, 888 533 3400 :)

It seems like I may have some kind of record thus far for non-clunking high mileage bushings/pillow balls :D

I've got 128k and no clunk from bushings/pillow balls...This ins't to say that they aren't bad...I think its just that same as u "'not knowing what I'm missing' by having fresh components"

Well I'll let you know when I get my PPF. I'm assuming all my bushings/pillowballs are factory. 63k miles.

I just bought my FD a month ago at 115k and my bushings/pillowballs were completely shot.

I've got one lower control arm with some play, but my hatch rattles more than my suspension clunks.

125,000 km's.

I haven't been under my 7 to look but everything seems tight at 73K miles. No cluncks at all..yet. My car is kinda babied though. Only been to the strip once in it's exsistance.

Mine has 118000 on the clock, and is still pretty quiet. I honestly don't know if they have ever been addressed though.

mine need to be replaced. group project ! anyone in socal down ? ha ha . but seriously, how hard can it be ? i've heard that the car drives like new with new ones, but i'm sure its simply something to cope with until dealt with.

mine are still good at 73,xxx miles

Rich's bushings are shot. He's deaf, and can't hear them :D.

I have just finished to change all mine and man what a difference.

Not a single noise and consider our roads are some of the worst you can find especially where I live. Also added benefit is that my car is now rock hard combine with my cerametalic clutch that now means only minor jurking and only in up going roads.

Man I love my care even more now without that jurking which was killing me. Do it and you will love your FD 3 times as much. :anger:

56K w/ no clunking - but I never drive in salt or snow, and rarely in rain. I'll bet your car is similarly treated... :)

Dave

Besides going to mazda and buy them there, is there any other Cheaper/better/whatever place i can buy them AND have them shiped to Europe? :P

Energy and PowerFlex don't have them for FD :(

Not that I'm aware of, no. You can email Ray and Tracey at hmkparts@aol.com, I know that they *do* ship to europe, and he won't kill you on shipping charges. I may be shipping a customer's built and ported engine to Portugal, and he is getting me a pretty good price on that.

Thanks on that info.

"shipping a customer's built and ported engine to Portugal "
:aroused:
there arent that many FDs here.... gotta go check who's "missing a engine" :D

Rich,

I assume you have upgraded your engine mounts and diff bushings, correct? At what mileage did you do so?

I bet the stock pillowballs and rear bushings would last twice to three times as long with stronger diff mounts and engine mounts. They dramatically tighten the rear suspension, and I am sure that prolongs the life of all the other bushings. I can't imagine how little time it would take to wear out a little pillowball if the big diff mounts or engine mounts are shot. That is probably why most peole end up doing them all at the same time...

Coincidentally right after I got my car the odometer went out (add that to the list) and so I got a new one from Mazda...my car reads only the mileage I have put on the car (2,xxx some odd...) So I will know exactly how long my pillowballs last with a new PPF and urethane diff and engine mounts since I replaced them all in the first 800 or so miles.

silly question- how can you tell if they're bad?
Does the car not roll as smoothly? Or do you hear some kind of noise when you go over a bump?

Just about 80k on my car (with track miles too but no drag racing). While there are no real clunks or squeaks, I do know the pillow balls are ready to be replaced. I checked their play and its time. I've had a set of new ones in the garage waiting to go on for about year.

Yup, although many are fairly recent, mileage-wise----new Gotham poly motor mounts about 10k miles ago, new rx7.com diff bushings about 500 miles ago, and a KG diff brace about 12k miles ago. I have basically zero drivetrain movement.

Between my years spent in the Field Artilery with the M109A6 and my new full 4 inch turboback exhaust, you might be right Adam :MissileSm :bigthumb:

I've had my FD less than two months, mileage is estimated at ~100K (speedo didn't work when I got it) and mine are shot. I called Ray Crowe Tuesday and ordered six bushings & 12 seals, $360 shipped.

102k and nothin clunkin yet

145 K MILES and I hear a clunk when the car is backed up after sitting for a day or two .I have new pillerballs in the drawer and I plan on making the bushings on the lathe ,when the time comes .

When I replaced all 6 of mine, there were still 3 that were solid and in good shape. I replaced them with the new ones anyway cause I had already bought them. I still have them if anyone has a couple they need to replace...and wants to go a cheap route...I would give them away for free provided someone pays me shipping.

shameless plug ;o)

Is this Ray Crowe's email addy?

yup.

Yes. But if he doesn't have your payment info on file then you'll still need to call for that.

112k on mine and the shit sounds like its gonna fall apart :mad:

With all the time I spend on race tires I go through a set of pillowballs every 2-3 years. The pillowballs have to handle all of the reaction from the rear brakes as well as absorb the cornering loads. In my case lots of time at higher g and sticky rubber undoubtedly stresses them much more highly and shortens their lifespan.

I first started to get clunks at about 37k miles from one pillowball. Then they all started getting noisy at around 60k; at around 100k it was falling apart.

Replacing the pillowballs really tightened the car up and is highly recommended for handling, not to mention noise. Pillowballs should be considered for routine 60k maintenace replacement.

Clunk, clunk, clunk. Mine have been bad since 10k ago at 126k.

I have 50k on mine and it clunks.

no clunks on my car at 70 odd k, but when i replaced them i did notice a difference - albeit only when drifting. Replacing them made the car feel mroe direct, and in second gear rolling burnouts the rear stopped trying to overtake the front so much.

When I bought my car with 44k miles there was a little clunking. Now 6k miles later, it is significant. New pillowballs are sitting in my garage waiting to go in.

At 105K still running on the originals and no clunks. I've only done about ten two-day HPDE's, and the monthly SCCA autox.

:-) neil

Mine started to clunk at 58k miles. :wallbash:

71k on stockers and no problems.

112K, No creaks or other noises -- unless I overload the car -- which is not hard to do. Two 'slightly more than average sized' Americans, a full tank, and some stuff in the hatch can easilly top the car limit. When that happens, I hear the creaking at low speed (in gas stations and such). I image the noise is still there at speed, but all the other noises probably mask it.

What suspension does everyone have? Touring, R1, after market?